2011/07/16: BBC: Somalia drought: UN delivers aid to Islamist areasThe UN has made its first aid delivery to drought victims in areas of Somalia controlled by al-Qaeda-linked militants since they lifted an aid ban. UN children organisation’s Rozanne Chorlton said al-Shabab had given UN workers unhindered access and hoped this would encourage other agencies.

2011/07/15: BBC: Somalis displaced by drought hit by Mogadishu rainsPeople who have fled the drought in Somalia to camps near the capital Mogadishu have now been hit by days of heavy rain. Aid workers say five people, including three children, had died of exposure. A doctor told the BBC that people could not find shelter from the cold rain.

2011/07/13: BBC: Horn of Africa drought: Kenya row over Somali refugeesA row has broken out in Kenya’s government over the huge influx of Somalis fleeing the region’s worst drought in 60 years. About 370,000 Somalis are at an over-crowded camp and the government is divided over opening a second camp. One minister said a new camp would encourage more Somalis to cross the border. Another minister, however, said he was “embarrassed” that Kenya was refusing to give more help to refugees.

2011/07/10: CBC: Somalia ‘worst humanitarian disaster’ in worldThe head of the UN refugee agency said Sunday that drought-ridden Somalia is the “worst humanitarian disaster” in the world after meeting with refugees who endured unspeakable hardship to reach the world’s largest refugee camp. The Kenyan camp, Dadaab, is overflowing with tens of thousands of newly arrived refugees forced into the camp by the parched landscape in the region where Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya meet. The World Food Program estimates that 10 million people already need humanitarian aid. The UN Children’s Fund estimates that more than 2 million children are malnourished and in need of lifesaving action. Antonio Guterra, the head of UNHCR who visited Dadaab on Sunday, appealed to the world to supply the “massive support” needed by thousands of refugees showing up at this camp every week. More than 380,000 refugees now live there.

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. Now the Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, says decades. We’ll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.

2011/07/16: al Jazeera: Japan reactor halted over pressure dropNuclear reactor shut down because of a technical failure, placing further strain on the country’s power supply. A Japanese power firm said it would halt operations at a nuclear reactor because of a technical failure, placing further strain on the country’s power supply. Kansai Electric Power Co said it would manually shut down reactor Number 1 at its Ooi plant in central Japan on Saturday because of a temporary pressure drop in a standby tank.

2011/07/12: CNN: Radioactive meat circulating on Japanese marketHealth official says he does not believe contaminated meat will cause problems – His comments follow the discovery of cesium contamined meat from Fukushima cows – The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says the meat was marketed and probably ingested by now – Cows were fed contaminated hay

2011/07/12: BBC: Widening scandal at Japan’s Kyushu nuclear firmDozens of workers at Japan’s Kyushu Electric Company posed as citizens and lobbied for a power plant to be reopened, an internal inquiry says. A whistleblower last week revealed that some 50 workers had sent e-mails to a televised debate backing a plan to restart Kyushu’s Genkai plant. But the firm’s internal inquiry has found more than 100 employees may have been involved. Two-thirds of Japan’s 54 reactors have been idle since the 11 March quake.

2011/07/13: CSM: Nuclear safety review: how US plants could handle a Fukushima-type eventA major post-Fukushima review of US nuclear power facilities is calling for sweeping changes to shore up safety, including ensuring that nuclear operators can handle multiple reactor emergencies at a single site. But a Fukushima-type accident “is unlikely to occur in the United States,” and continued nuclear plant activities “do not pose an imminent risk” to public safety, concluded the 90-day task force convened by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The task force released its report Wednesday.

2011/07/13: BBC: Japan PM Naoto Kan urges nuclear-free futureJapan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called for his country to develop into a nuclear-free society, amid rising public anger at the continuing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. In a televised news conference, Mr Kan said the country should harness renewable energy sources. The 11 March earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima plant, which continues to leak radioactive material. A large section of public opinion has turned against nuclear power.

2011/07/12: CBC: Polar bears to be listed as species at riskCanada is set to include the polar bear on its list of species at risk, but not as a threatened or endangered species. The federal government gave notice this month that it intends to list the Arctic animal as a species of special concern — one level below threatened and two levels below endangered — under the Species at Risk Act. The move would require a plan to be devised within three years to prevent the species from becoming endangered or threatened.

2011/07/15: CNN: ‘Ice Wars’ heating up the ArcticTension is building in the Arctic, where countries are vying for valuable natural resources – More oil, natural gas and mineral deposits can be accessed now because of climate change – There have been territorial disputes over the underwater land where these deposits rest – The Arctic is now seeing naval and military activities it hasn’t seen since the Cold War

2011/07/11: BBC: Antarctic experts meet for conference in EdinburghMore than 500 experts from around the world are meeting in Edinburgh to present the latest scientific research from the Polar regions. It is the first time in more than 20 years that the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) has held its conference in the UK.

2011/07/15: CBC: GM salmon could breed in wild, study shows — Grow GM fish in closed containers on land to minimize risk, researchers urgeA salmon engineered to contain a certain growth hormone gene (rear) grows twice as fast as its non-transgenic counterpart the same age. A salmon engineered to contain a certain growth hormone gene (rear) grows twice as fast as its non-transgenic counterpart the same age. AquaBounty Technologies/Associated PressGenes from genetically engineered Atlantic salmon could potentially enter wild populations through natural interbreeding, a new study suggests. Male fish carrying a growth hormone gene that causes them to grow twice as quickly as regular salmon can engage in normal breeding behavior and breed with wild females under natural conditions, scientists from Memorial University in St. John’s, have found.

2011/07/14: PostMedia: Caribou at risk, report warns — Industry, piecemeal protection leaves iconic species ‘on the road to extinction’An international panel of scientists is warning that the woodland caribou will soon be “on the road to extinction” without immediate efforts by federal and provincial agencies to protect the animal’s increasingly disturbed boreal habitat. In open letters issued Wednesday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, the Canadian Boreal Initiative and Pew Environment Group – backed by the new report from an “all-star cast” of wildlife experts probing the status of the antlered beast that graces Canada’s 25-cent piece – urgently pushed for bolder conservation measures to prevent the caribou’s rapid decline.

2011/07/17: BBC: Indonesians flee new volcano eruption on Sulawesi – Mount Lokon Thousands of residents have been forced back into emergency shelters after a volcano in central Indonesia unleashed its most powerful eruption in weeks. Mount Lokon, on Sulawesi, started erupting at around 1035 local time (0335 GMT) on Sunday. It spewed hot ash and smoke 3,500-metres (11,500ft) into the air, according to reports.

2011/07/12: EurActiv: EU traders fear Australian carbon market ‘price shock’The Australian government’s decision to set the carbon tax in its new CO2 trading scheme too high may trigger a market shock when the price free-floats in 2015, analysts warned. Under the new scheme, companies will have to pay $23 for each tonne of Australian carbon produced – around $10 per tonne higher than equivalent prices in the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS).

2011/07/13: NYT: Utility Shelves Ambitious Plan to Limit CarbonA major American utility is shelving the nation’s most prominent effort to capture carbon dioxide from an existing coal-burning power plant, dealing a severe blow to efforts to rein in emissions responsible for global warming. American Electric Power has decided to table plans to build a full-scale carbon-capture plant at Mountaineer, a 31-year-old coal-fired plant in West Virginia, where the company has successfully captured and buried carbon dioxide in a small pilot program for two years. The technology had been heralded as the quickest solution to help the coal industry weather tougher federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions. But Congressional inaction on climate change diminished the incentives that had spurred A.E.P. to take the leap. Company officials, who plan an announcement on Thursday, said they were dropping the larger, $668 million project because they did not believe state regulators would let the company recover its costs by charging customers, thus leaving it no compelling regulatory or business reason to continue the program.

2011/07/14: EurActiv: Brussels weighs billion-dollar F-gas [HFC] industry banPlanet-warming gases used to power Europe’s refrigerators and air conditioning should be banned or face a weighting system based on their global warming potential, a consultants’ report to the EU says. Fluorinated gases (also known as HFCs or F-gases) only contribute around 2% of greenhouse gases today but if business continues as usual, that figure could rise to between 9% and 19% by 2050.

2011/07/14: ABC(Au): Wind farm extension given green lightAn extension to a wind farm project near Hallett in South Australia’s Mid North will go ahead after being approved by the Goyder Council. Electricity company International Power wanted to increase the number of wind turbines on its Willogoleche Hill site from 26 to 37.

2011/07/10: BBC: Qantas sees $122m carbon tax cost warns of fare risesQantas Airways claims the new carbon tax is likely to increase the cost of its operations by as much as 115m Australian dollars ($122m; £76.7m). However, the airline says the extra cost will be passed on to passengers as it increases fares. Qantas expects the price on a single domestic flight to rise by about A$3.50 in 2013.

2011/07/14: TMoS: You Can’t Argue With These NumbersStephen Harper may act as though climate change impacts can be ignored but the global insurance industry would tell him he’s full of crap. An industry review of catastrophic loss claims reveals that 2011 stands as “the highest-ever loss year on record, even after just six months.”

2011/07/13: CBC: Corporate sponsorship for energy meeting slammedA coalition of environment groups says the large corporate sponsorship at next week’s meeting of energy ministers “sends the wrong message to Canadians.” Eleven energy companies and associations are spending $180,000 to sponsor the annual conference that will be held July 16 to 19 in Kananaskis, Alberta. The sponsorship is just under a third of the approximately $600,000 price tag for the conference. Federal, provincial and territorial ministers and their deputy ministers are holding their annual meeting to discuss, among other issues, a national energy strategy. But environment groups say the sponsorship is a clear attempt by the petroleum industry to influence people who will be making crucial decisions about Canada’s energy future.

2011/07/10: G&M: National energy strategy gains cloutThe Harper government has endorsed the need for a national energy strategy in the face of growing calls from provinces and industry groups that the sector’s vision of a new era of global growth is too critical to be governed by piecemeal planning. The government’s backing of the idea of a national energy strategy marks a substantial shift from its previous public position. The Conservative government had long been cool to calls for a national strategy, fearing it would get dragged into areas of provincial jurisdiction with demands for financial support.

2011/07/13: CBC: Natural gas not the answer, climate groups sayNatural gas is not a “transition” fuel to a low-carbon energy future, says a report from two of Canada’s most respected environmental think-tanks. Switching from coal to natural gas could help meet Canada’s short-term goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020. But if that’s the only change Canada makes, the 2050 targets — an 80 per cent greenhouse gas reduction — would be almost impossible to achieve.

2011/07/14: PostMedia: Natural-gas shift won’t meet green goals: StudyA shift toward natural gas to meet growing energy demands could damage natural ecosystems and take Canada and other jurisdictions further away from meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals, says a new study to be released Thursday by two major Canadian environmental research groups.

2011/07/15: CBC: Shell wants out of Mackenzie pipeline projectShell Canada is planning to pull out of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project and sell its assets in the region. The company is trying to sell its share in the $16.2 billion natural gas project in the Northwest Territories, according to company documents obtained by CBC News. Shell is part of a corporate consortium, led by Imperial Oil, that is backing the proposed pipeline. Other members of the consortium are Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. Fred Carmichael, chairman of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, estimated that Shell has an 11 per cent share in the project.

2011/07/17: PostMedia: Tories’ wheat board ideology could cost us allWhenever the ideological goals of the Conservative government are mentioned, such as the long-gun registry and crime control, they usually include the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) monopoly. Invariably that draws a blank stare from most city folks as the wheat board and its function would be a complete mystery. Its an issue that goes back to the beginnings of the Reform party, when the CWB monopoly was seen as an example of the suffocating intrusion by Ottawa over the rights of western Canadians. Its demise as a monopoly has been carved in stone as Conservative party policy ever since. For the uninitiated, the CWB and its predecessors began during the First World War. The original intent was to control wartime prices and smooth the flow of grain to the U.K. It was further developed to deal with grain market calamities in the 1930s and to thwart the predatory intentions of grain companies and railroads towards innocent farmers. The present modified version of the CWB has been around since the 1940s.

2011/07/14: PostMedia: Caribou at risk, report warns — Industry, piecemeal protection leaves iconic species ‘on the road to extinction’An international panel of scientists is warning that the woodland caribou will soon be “on the road to extinction” without immediate efforts by federal and provincial agencies to protect the animal’s increasingly disturbed boreal habitat. In open letters issued Wednesday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, the Canadian Boreal Initiative and Pew Environment Group – backed by the new report from an “all-star cast” of wildlife experts probing the status of the antlered beast that graces Canada’s 25-cent piece – urgently pushed for bolder conservation measures to prevent the caribou’s rapid decline.

2011/07/11: PostMedia: BC Hydro announces more smart meter project contractsClevest Solutions and Bit Stew Systems, two British Columbia based high-tech companies, have been chosen by BC Hydro to support its $930 million smart meter installation program. Earlier this month, Hydro commenced an 18-month program to install 1.8 million smart meters in the homes and offices of most of its customers, with Corix Utilities contracted to manage the installation. Vancouver-based Bit Stew has been contracted to provide Hydro the tools to manage and track the upgrade using a real-time interactive map, according to a news release from the Crown corporation.

2011/07/15: CBC: Oilsands may threaten whooping cranes’ survivalThe Alberta oilsands may be threatening the survival of the whooping crane, which is already an endangered species in North America, according to Global Forest Watch Canada. The environmental group says the world’s only wild flock of whooping cranes flies over the oilsands as it migrates annually between breeding grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park, located on the Alberta-Northwest Territories border, and winter grounds along the Texas coast.

2011/07/14: CBC: Manitoba considers electric car incentivesThe Manitoba government is looking for incentives to entice new car buyers to make the move to electric cars with their next purchase. The province believes most city and suburban commuters will find electric cars, which can travel 120 kilometres on a single charge, even in winter, capable of meeting their needs.

2011/07/14: G&M: Oil tycoon takes on Ontario Green Energy Act over wind farmOntario’s controversial green energy policy is facing a new assault as famed oilman tycoon T. Boone Pickens has launched a $775-million NAFTA challenge alleging the government has discriminated against his privately owned wind energy company. With the Dallas-based Mesa Power Group’s action, the Liberal government is now fighting multi-front battles over its Green Energy Act and the feed-in tariff that pays renewable energy companies premium prices for electricity — so long as they procure a percentage of the goods and services in the province.

2011/07/14: STimes: U.S. settles with some Hanford downwindersThe U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to settle claims brought by 139 people with thyroid disease who believe radiation releases from the Hanford nuclear reservation caused their illnesses. The proposal marks the largest settlement so far in a civil case that has lasted 20 years.

2011/07/14: G&M: Oil tycoon takes on Ontario Green Energy Act over wind farmOntario’s controversial green energy policy is facing a new assault as famed oilman tycoon T. Boone Pickens has launched a $775-million NAFTA challenge alleging the government has discriminated against his privately owned wind energy company. With the Dallas-based Mesa Power Group’s action, the Liberal government is now fighting multi-front battles over its Green Energy Act and the feed-in tariff that pays renewable energy companies premium prices for electricity — so long as they procure a percentage of the goods and services in the province.

2011/07/15: BBC: The gas platform that will be the world’s biggest ‘ship’Shell has unveiled plans to build the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) platform. The 600,000-tonne behemoth – the world’s biggest “ship” – will be sited off the coast of Australia. But how will it work? Deep beneath the world’s oceans are huge reservoirs of natural gas. Some are hundreds or thousands of miles from land, or from the nearest pipeline. Tapping into these “stranded gas” resources has been impossible – until now. At Samsung Heavy Industries’ shipyard on Geoje Island in South Korea, work is about to start on a “ship” that, when finished and fully loaded, will weigh 600,000 tonnes. That is six times as much as the biggest US aircraft carrier.

2011/07/15: CNN: Solar lanterns saving lives, lighting up KenyaAround 75% of Kenyans rely on kerosene lamps for their lighting needs – The smoke from kerosene lamps can lead to the development of respiratory illnesses – Solanterns is aiming to replace one million kerosene lanterns with solar-powered ones – The company says that each lantern will reduce CO2 emissions by 135 kilograms

2011/07/14: STimes: U.S. settles with some Hanford downwindersThe U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to settle claims brought by 139 people with thyroid disease who believe radiation releases from the Hanford nuclear reservation caused their illnesses. The proposal marks the largest settlement so far in a civil case that has lasted 20 years.

2011/07/15: EurActiv: ‘Green’ image seen as key to future business successCustomers are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of their lifestyles and the most successful companies will be those who best respond to shoppers’ desire to ‘buy green’, business representatives argued at a conference this week. As fears over climate change mount and Western consumption patterns continue to put a strain on the world’s resources, environmentally-conscious citizens are attracted to companies that share their concerns about environmental degradation.

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.